manner prescribed in the by-laws of said town; and said. board, two-thirds concurring, shall have power to levy and collect a license tax on all shows, places of amusement, race tracks, billiard tables, or other tables for amusement, ten pin alleys, houses for retailing spirituous, vinous or malt liquors, or for the carrying on of any business or calling within said corporation.

SEC. 2. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Passed May 23d, 1873.

[NOTE.-The foregoing act was presented to the Governor of Texas for his approval on the twenty-eighth of May, A. D. 1873, and was not signed by him, or returned to the house in which it originated, with his objections thereto, within the time prescribed by the Constitution, and thereupon became a law without his signature.-JAMES P. NEWCOMB, Secretary of State.]

CHAPTER CXCVIII.

An Act in relation to the Corpus Christi Ship Canal.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the ship canal across and through the so-called Mud Flats, between Aransas and Corpus Christi bays, now being constructed by Augustus T. Morris and James Cummings, of New York, under the firm name of Morris & Cummings, as agents for the city of Corpus Christi, is hereby declared to be and is recog nized as being constructed under and by virtue of the power and authority conferred and vested by an act of the Legislature of this State, approved February, 13th, A. D. 1854, entitled "An act supplementary to an act to incorporate the city of Corpus Christi, approved February 16th, 1852;" and the several ordinances of the mayor and board of Aldermen of said city, enacted and passed under authority of said act and in relation to said canal, on the 15th day of April, A. D. 1858, on the 13th day of June, A. D. 1872, and on the 12th day of February, A. D. 1873, the latter of which ordinances declaring said Morris & Cummings to be the only lawful

agents in the premises; the same are hereby validated and legalized in every respect; provided, that nothing in this act contained shall be construed to give any validity to any bond or bonds which the city council may have at any time heretofore issued, with the professed object of aiding in the construction of said channel, and whereby it is assumed to bind the said city of Corpus Christi or its people.

SEC. 2. That in constructing, keeping open and maintaining said canal, the said city of Corpus Christi, or its said agents, shall have the right to deposit the excavated earth, and all other matter dug out, on either side of said canal, to the distance of three hundred yards (300 yds ), and for such distance during the maintenance of the said canal shall have the exclusive right of way over, control and use of, the embankments created by such deposits and subsequent accretions thereto.

SEC. 3. That said canal shall be completed through its whole length, to a depth of at least eight feet in ordinary tides, and to a width of at least one hundred feet at its bottom; and to that depth and breadth shall be kept open and maintained to facilitate direct communication from the city of Corpus Christi to the Gulf of Mexico, and in the interest of commerce and navigation.

SEC. 4. That to aid in the completion and maintenance of the said canal, there is hereby donated and granted to the city of Corpus Christi, or their lawful agents, as aforesaid, sixteen sections of land of six hundred and forty acres each, for each mile of canal made or excavated, as aforesaid; provided, that in no case shall this donation and grant apply or extend to more than seven miles of such canal.

SEC. 5. That upon the completion of said canal within the next twelve months, in a good and substantial manner, and in accordance with the provisions of this act, upon notice of such fact to the county or police court of the county of Nueces, it shall be their duty forthwith to appoint three disinterested and competent navigators, and the district or county surveyor, to examine and survey such canal, and to report to the said court the result of such examination and survey.

SEC. 6. That whenever the Governor shall be informed that the said canal is completed according to the provisions of this act, he shall at once appoint some competent per

son, if there be no State engineer, to inspect the same; provided, that the State shall not be held responsible for any compensation incurred in making such inspection. And if the report of said inspector, which shall be made under oath, be favorable, the Governor shall notify the Commissioner of the General Land Office, whose duty it shall be immediately to issue to said city of Corpus Christi, or their agents as aforesaid, sixteen land certificates, of six hundred and forty acres each, for each and every mile of said canal completed, and so on for every additional mile of said canal, as provided in this act; which certificates shall be located and surveyed in alternate sections, and field notes and maps of the same shall be returned to the General Land Office, and the odd sections patented to said company and all the alternate or even sections shall be reserved, and held, and set apart, and appropriated to, and shall constitute a part of the common school fund, as provided by the laws of this State now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted; and said city of Corpus Christi, or their agents aforesaid, shall proceed to alienate the lands herein granted, as follows: one-fourth thereof in eight years, one-fourth in ten years, one-fourth in twelve years, and one-fourth in sixteen years, from the date of acquiring said lands; and a failure to alienate the lands as herein provided, then the said city of Corpus Christi shall be proceeded against as provided by law now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted for a violation of this charter.

SEC. 7. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Passed May 23d, 1873.

[NOTE. The foregoing act was presented to the Governor of Texas for his approval on the twenty-seventh day of May, A. D. 1873, and was not signed by him, or returned to the house in which it originated, with his objections thereto, within the time prescribed by the Constitution, and thereupon became a law without his signature. JAMES P. NEWCOMB, Secretary of State.]

CHAPTER CXCIX

An Act to incorporate and facilitate the building of the Dallas, Palestine and Southeast Texas Railroad.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That S. J. Adams, W. G. Randall, Wm. H. Gaston, J. L. Leonard, Alex. T. Hensley, and Thos. Field, of Dallas county; John H. Reagan, J. W. Ozment, Michael Ashe, A. T. Rainey and W. W. Shumatle, of Anderson county; Green J. Clark, C. C. Nash and George D. Manion, of Kaufman county; Charles Jones, of Tyler county; Geo. W. O'Brien, of Jefferson county; and S. B. Tackaberry, of Polk county; John Collins, Sr., and Thomas Murchison, of Henderson county, all of the State of Texas; with Wm. S. Pike, Moses Greenwood, Sam'l H. Kennedy, Richard Pritchard, and E. B. Wheelock, of New Orleans, and State of Louisiana, their associates, successors and assigns, be and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, under the name of the Dallas, Palestine and Southeast Texas Railroad Company, under which name they shall have succession for sixty years from and after the passage of this act, with the right to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with; to have and to hold, purchase and convey both real and personal property; to use a common seal; and to perform such acts and things as may become necessary and proper to be done for the best interest of said company; and to establish such by-laws and regulations as the board of directors may deem proper, not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of this State, or of the United States.

SEC. 2. That the parties above named, or a majority of them, shall act as commissioners to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of said company, and shall select from their number seven to act at [as] the first board of directors, until their successors are duly elected and qualified, in accordance with the by-laws of the company, to be by them, or a majority of them, adopted.. The capital stock of the company shall not exceed five millions of dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and each share shall be entitled to one vote in all elections for directors, or in all stockholders' meetings,

either personally or by proxy; said shares shall be deemed personal property, and shall be transferred on the books of its company, in such manner as the by-laws may direct.

SEC. 3. That said company shall have the right, and the authority is hereby given them, to construct, equip, maintain, operate and own a line of railroad and telegraph line, beginning at the city of Dallas, in Dallas county, and running thence through the corporate limits of the town of Kaufman, thence to the town of Athens, thence to the town of Palestine, and thence to the Sabine river, to the point where the railroad is now being constructed from the city of Houston to New Orleans may reach said river; provided, that said road shall not pass within five miles of any county seat without going by such town, if such town shall furnish it the right of way through and on each side of the same for distance of five miles, and sufficient ground, in good shape, at or in such town, for all ordinary depot uses; and provided further, that the towns of Kaufman, Palestine and Athens shall also furnish the right of way through their limits, and sufficient ground for ordinary depot uses, within or adjoining their limits, as said towns may elect.

SEC. 4. That said company shall have the right to make all preliminary surveys to enter upon and take possession of lands to the extent of two hundred feet in width for purposes of road-bed and construction, and such additional quantity of land for the purposes of depots, sidings, turnouts, machine shops, and other buildings, as may be necessary, by any agreement to and with the owner or owners of private property; and if no agreement can be made, or the owner or owners be absent or unknown, then the property shall be acquired in accordance with the general railroad law of the State. SEC. 5. The office of said company shall be in the city of Dallas.

SEC. 6. Said company shall have the right to connect with any and all railroads intersected by their said line, and to form a junction or junctions with other railroads at the crossing or terminus of said company's line; but it shall not be lawful for said company to sell, rent or lease to, or to consolidate with any competing, converging or parallel railroad, but it may consolidate with any road running northwesterly from the city of Dallas, so as